Careful What You Kiss For (15 page)

“What do we do now?” Tensley asked.

Good question. He went with his gut. “Meet me.”

They made arrangements to meet at the diner again in half an hour. As Max put the phone down, though, the day became a little less fantastic. He’d be one hell of a stupid cop if he didn’t ask himself why Tensley had suddenly changed her mind. And whether he would ever be able to keep his professional distance from the woman.

At least he knew one thing — he would do anything and everything to make sure he protected her. Especially since his reasons for asking her to do this for him probably weren’t the best.

Now that he thought about it, really thought about it, getting her involved might have been the worst idea he’d had in a very long time. And that was saying something, given the number of bad ideas he’d come up with in his life.

• • •

Sol was behind the counter when Max arrived at the diner, but the flirty young waitress with the squeaky shoes and bobbing hips was nowhere in sight. Mid-afternoon, the place was deserted. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Sol acknowledged him with a nod.

“By yourself today?”

“More trouble than it’s worth to keep help around.” The owner of the diner rolled his eyes.

“So you pissed this one off, too.” Sol fired waitresses as soon as they started catching on he had a soft spot the size of Texas for a hard-luck story. As a result, he went through a spin cycle of employees.

Instead of answering, the older man wiped his hands on his apron and turned away to grab the coffee pot. “You want something to eat?”

Max’s stomach answered for him, with a rumble loud enough for Sol to hear.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Cheeseburger, no onions. Fries, no salt.”

With a thumbs-up, Max made his way to his favorite booth.

Sol arrived a couple of minutes later to splash coffee into a cup. “Meetin’ somebody?”

“We’ll see.”

The older man grunted. “The last one sure left in a hurry. What’d you do, try and get too friendly?”

“I smell my cheeseburger burning.”

Sol started, then said, “Shit. It’s not even cookin’ yet.”

Max hid his grin. “Man, I hope it doesn’t take long. I’m really hungry.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sol left for the kitchen, calling over his shoulder. “Someone comes in, you tell them to sit down.”

“Or put on an apron.”

Most of what Sol muttered in response was unintelligible, which was probably a good thing. Max cradled his coffee cup as he looked through the window, telling himself he wasn’t watching for that first glance of Tensley. The one where he would get to drink in everything about her before she saw him and her guard went up.

It didn’t take long. A couple of minutes later, her car cruised to a stop. She got out, shut the door and then stood, arms hugging her body, looking at Sol’s sign. A grown woman now, she still gave off that vibe of naïve fragility, but there was a thread of pure steel running through the middle of it. Not seeing it would be like mistaking Jennifer Aniston for the character Rachel she’d played on TV.

Come on,
he urged.
I won’t bite.
That fast, he added,
but you can
. His mind veered back to an open field, inhaling the scratchy sweet smell of grass as Tensley’s hair brushed his naked body. Little nibbles from her perfect pink mouth, beginning at his shoulders and moving down, that had driven him half insane. His rock hard dick standing so tall, he could have thrown a tarp over it and made a spacious shelter for them both.

He set his cup down, rattling the china. He closed his eyes, doing his best to bring his breathing back to normal. She would be a confidential informant. And he could not ignore the fact that she could even be involved in what was going on at the club. She’d changed her mind pretty fast about helping him. What was in it for her?

It did not matter, repeat, did not matter, what kind of memories she stirred in him. All of that was a long time ago. Done. Gone. He had a job to do.

“Let me guess. You’ve taken up meditation.”

The sound of her voice brought him straight back to Sol’s diner. “No.” He pushed the word out of his throat so hard, it startled them both.

She took a step back.

“Sorry.” He gestured. “Have a seat.”

“Are you okay?” she asked as she slid onto the seat.

He cleared his throat. “I’m great.”

Her nod was so small, he might have imagined it.

Sol appeared at the table. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please.”

Once her cup had been filled, Sol jerked a thumb at Max. “Watch this one. He gives you any trouble, you let me know.”

Tensley’s eyes met Max’s. “Thanks, but I can handle him.”

“That’s what all his women say.” Sol shuffled off.

Tensley’s forehead puckered. “How many women are we talking about exactly?” she asked Max.

He ignored the question. Damn Sol, anyway. “I need you to come with me to the station.”

“Why?”

“Department policy. My captain has to sign off on you as an informant.”

“Informant.” She repeated the word carefully, as though she had to roll it around on her tongue.

Max swallowed hard. “You changed your mind pretty fast. Anything I need to know about?”

“Let’s be clear.” She leaned forward. “I do not want to do this. Be an informant.”

Now he leaned forward. “That’s not what you said when you called.”

“All I said was that I would do it.” Her breath tickled his nose.

“So back to my question. Why? Money?”

“No.”

He hesitated for a beat. “Immunity from prosecution?”

“No.” She also hesitated. “And that sounded very
Law and Order
of you.”

“You’ll need to sign an agreement.”

“Terrific. Perfect. I think they do that on
Law and Order
, too.”

“You haven’t told me why the sudden change.”

“For God’s sake, let it go.”

“They wouldn’t let it go on
Law and Order
. And that’s apparently our standard here.”

She fought unsuccessfully to keep the corners of her mouth from turning up. “It should be.”

“Then spill.”

“Maybe it’s because you and I have a history.”

He ordered his own smile to a halt. Then he leaned in further, until his mouth was barely separated from hers. “So what are you saying?”

Her lips parted. “I’m saying — ”

“Cheeseburger, no onions,” Sol growled as he slid the plate between them. Max and Tensley jumped apart.

Guilt stabbed at Max, as though he was a high school kid again, caught with the girl he’d been ordered to stay away from.

“Fries, no salt.” Sol looked from one to the other. He wiped his hands on his apron. “You decide yet what you’re having, young lady?”

“Um … I … ” She blinked.

“Grilled cheese,” Max supplied.

Her cheeks turned pink. “You remember.”

He shrugged, as if it wasn’t any big deal, but a warm feeling spread through him. He reached over to finger the salt shaker.

Sol gave a good-natured snort. “One grilled cheese, comin’ up.”

Max watched as Tensley’s gaze dropped to her hands, folded and resting on the table. “I never could figure out,” he said, “why your mother would ban a whole sandwich.”

“She said that much cheese would clog up a person’s thought processes,” Tensley said to her hands. She glanced up. “That could explain some things. Maybe I ate a grilled cheese before I slugged Rhonda.”

“Your mother doesn’t know shit. Never did.” Max didn’t try to keep the disgust from his voice. Esme Tanner-Starbrook had run Tensley’s father out of the house and then tried to mold their toddler daughter into a mini version of herself, ruthless, rigid and as driven as they came. She hadn’t counted, though, on her only child being born with a compassionate heart and a romantic soul. The mini-me process hadn’t worked out so well and Tensley had been the one to suffer for it.

Tensley snorted, then covered her mouth, obviously embarrassed. “Sorry. I mean — try telling her that.”

“I hear another cable company is making a serious run at this market. Wonder how your mother’s handling that.”

“By ignoring it.” She tipped her head. “Just one annoying gnat flying around the giant picnic spread of Tanner Cable.” Bitterness peppered her words.

Max left the salt shaker alone, turning his gaze back to the woman on the other side of the table. “I guess it’s good to have that kind of optimism.”

“Optimism isn’t so much a part of the equation. It’s more that this city wouldn’t dare choose another cable provider when Tanner has been here for three generations.” She opened and closed her mouth, finally settling for, “And that’s all there is to it, according to my mother.”

They were silent for a few minutes, cradling their coffee cups and listening to the muffled sounds of Sol banging pans in the kitchen. Oddly enough, it was a comfortable quiet, Max decided. As though they’d picked up where they once were, instead of having been apart for all these years.

He lifted the burger bun, inspecting the tomatoes. “So she figures if she doesn’t acknowledge the competition, it isn’t there.”

“Pretty much. A shot of bug spray and any competition will give up and die or move on.”

“Do you agree?”

“No. I don’t think a business can survive that keeps doing things the same way for three generations. She’s severely underestimating our customers and what they want and expect.”

Our
customers. Had he missed something?

“I’ve been trying to convince her to — ” She broke off.

He waited. She didn’t finish, so he prompted her. “To what?”

“Nothing. Not important.”

He’d lay odds that wasn’t the truth, but before he could respond, Tensley straightened, dropping her hands to her lap. “So tell me what’s next. How soon do I meet your captain and get this whole informant thing going?”

He’d leave it. For the moment. “First thing in the morning.”

“How about now.”

His eyes met hers. God, she was beautiful. And he could not fathom how she’d managed this turn in her life without taking on that hard edge that kept people at a safe distance. Or kept them away, period. “Guess I might be able to make that happen.”

Sol appeared again to slide a beautifully browned grilled cheese sandwich in front of Tensley. Her eyes lit up.

“But how about we finish eating first,” Max said. He took a bite of his cheeseburger.

“I could do that,” she agreed.

Max watched as Tensley took her first bite of Sol’s gooey, crispy grilled cheese sandwich. Pure pleasure spread across her face as she closed her eyes, lifted her chin and chewed. “Mmmmm,” she said.

He nearly choked on his burger. When he brought his hand up to cover the coughing, it ran straight into his water glass, spilling liquid over the table.

Her eyes flew open, startled.

“Damn.” He grabbed a paper napkin to try to mop up the mess, but in the process, managed to knock over Tensley’s water glass. More liquid on the table, now spilling over the side.

Tensley picked up her plate with both hands to protect it from the flood. She laughed, a small sound at first and then bigger. “Eat out much?”

“No.” Water was dripping onto the floor. “I mean — yes.” The napkin holder was empty. “Wait here.”

“You think I’m leaving this grilled cheese?” She took another bite.

Max grabbed napkins from the neighboring booth and threw them onto the table, pressing hard, determined not to look at her.

Sol appeared with a large cloth. In less than a minute, he’d expertly wiped up the mess and restored order. “More water?” he asked Tensley. Before she could answer, he shot a warning finger at Max. “You, on the other hand, are cut off.”

“Very funny,” he grumbled.

Tensley looked at him, eyes dancing, after Sol left. She extended her glass. “You can have mine.”

“No. Thanks.” He waved her off, not even hungry any more. Shit. He felt like a twelve-year-old.

Some cop he was. Despite awards, accolades and a reputation for being a coldhearted son-of-a-bitch when it came to nailing bad guys, he could still be rendered totally useless by one woman. When she did something as innocent as eat a damned grilled cheese sandwich.

This could not be good.

And the best part was — it was too fucking late to back out now.

Max’s captain said less than three words to Tensley, but his glare pinned her to the wall for what felt like hours. When he finally glanced over at Max, she nearly choked on her relief. She’d bet the police captain had won every staring contest he’d ever been challenged to as a kid. She, on the other hand, had usually been the first to cave.

Max stared back at him.

Did these people ever actually talk?

The captain broke it off first, scrawling his name on the piece of paper and shoving it across the metal table.

She couldn’t understand why she felt relieved. It wasn’t as though she was interviewing for a job. She didn’t even want to do this. Had to be other ways to “learn her lesson.” Well, maybe.

Tensley focused on the paper, sorting through a blur of words until she found the place for her signature.

The police captain got up and left, closing the door hard behind him.

Max turned to her. “Don’t worry about him.”

Tensley folded her arms across her chest and sat back against the chair. Metal pushed against her shoulder blades. “Your captain doesn’t talk much.”

“He’s had some bad experiences.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Bad experiences. With talking.”

Max choked back a laugh. “You might say that.”

“Seriously. Why’s he so angry? You would think he’d be happy to have someone agree to help.”

“I’m sure he is.” Max picked up the paper she’d signed. “Your signature’s changed.”

“Don’t even try changing the subject.” Tensley tipped her head. “You know better.”

Max drummed his fingers on the table, the only sound in the room for a couple of minutes. Then his hand stilled. “I don’t know everything about my captain, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s his bulletproof vest.” He abruptly stood, shoving his chair back, her signed agreement in his hand. “Let’s go.”